The Engineering Projects

Introduction to DS3231

Hello friends, I hope you all are doing great. In today's tutorial, we are gonna have a look at a detailed Introduction to DS3231. DS3231 is a real-time clock (RTC) with an integrated temperature-compensated crystal oscillator. It consists of a battery that provides supply to DS3231 when the main supply is off. In this way, it continues working without any interference. It is available in industrial and commercial temperature ranges. It exists in a 16-pin, 300-mil  SO package. DS3231 is used in industrial projects and different electronic devices such as laptops, computers, and GPS for high accuracy of time. In today's post, we will have a look at its working, pinout, applications, protocol, etc. I will also share some links to projects where I have interfaced it with some other Microcontroller. If you have any questions please ask in comments, I will try my best to resolve your problems. So, let's get started with a basic Introduction to DS3231.

Introduction to DS3231

• DS3231 is a low-cost real-time clock (RTC), which has an integrated temperature-compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO) and I2C working protocol. It also has a backup battery, which provides supply when the main supply is cut off.
• It has a crystal resonator which enhances the long-term accuracy of the device and reduces piece-part count in a manufacturing line.
• It is available in 16 pins, 300 mil SO package. This RTC module maintains seconds, minutes, hours, dates, months and yearly information. It changes to date and time at the end of the month automatically including corrections for the leap year.
• This module operates in either 24 24-hour or 12-hour format with an AM/PM indicator.
• It consists of temperature compensated voltage reference and comparator circuit, which monitors the status of Vcc to detect power failures. This circuit provides a reset output and automatically switches to a backup supply when necessary.

Now, we discuss DS3231 pinout with detailed.

DS3231 Pinout & Description

There are a main sixteen pinouts of DS3231, which are described below with detailed.

Pin#	Type	Parameters
Pin#1	32K	This is a 32 kHz output. This is an open drain pin requires an external pull up resistor. If it is not in use can be left open.
Pin#2	Vcc	This pin is for DC power supply. It should be decoupled with 0.1µF to 1.0µF capacitor. If not in use connected to ground.
Pin#3	INT/SQW	This is a low interrupt or square wave output pin. It requires an external pull up resistor.
Pin#4	RST	This is an active low reset. It is open drain input/output. It indicates the status of Vcc relative to the Vpf simplifications. As Vcc falls below Vpf, the RST pin is driven low.
Pin#5-12	N.C	These pins are not in use. These should be connected to ground.
Pin#13	GND	This pin is used for ground.
Pin#14	Vbat	This pin used for Backup Power Supply Input. It should be coupled with 0.1µF to 1.0µF low-leakage capacitor.
Pin#15	SDA	It is serial data input, output pin. This pin is the data input/output for the I2C serial interface.
Pin#16	SCL	It is a serial clock pin.

For better understanding, let's see the DS3231 pinout diagram.

Features of DS3231

• Features of an electronic component can help you a better understanding of major function associated with it. It will help you to make a final decision before picking a device for your relevant project. Following are some features of DS3231.
• Its accuracy from 0°C to +40°C is ±2 ppm and -40°C to +85°C is ±3.5 ppm.
• It is a low power consumption device. It has battery backup for continuous timekeeping.
• Its temperature range for commercial use is 0°C to +70°C and for industries is -40°C to +85°C.
•  This Real Time Clock Counts Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Day, Date, Month, and Year with Leap Year Compensation Valid Up to 2100.
•  It has two times of day alarms. It can operate up to 400kHz frequency.
• It has a simple serial interface which can Connect to Most Microcontrollers. Its working protocol is I2C.
• It is Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Recognized.

DS3231 Arduino Interfacing

Friends, now we discuss DS3231 Arduino interfacing with a complete description and circuit diagram. Components Required

• These are components of this circuit.
  • Arduino UNO
  • DS3231 RTC Module
  • Mini Breadboard
  • 16×2 LCD Display
  • Connecting Wires
  • 10 KO POT

Circuit Design & Description

• First of all, we discuss connections between Arduino and DS3231. As we already know interfacing between them is I2C, If you are using board other than UNO, then first you should identify the I2C pins on your Arduino Board.
• In Arduino UNO A4 and A5 are SDA and SCL pins. Connect these pins with corresponding SCL and SDA pins of DS3231 module. After this connect Vcc and ground pin of RTC Module with +5v and GND of Arduino.
• For output, I have interfaced LCD with this circuit. Connect E and RS pins of LCD to 7 and 6 of Arduino, also connect D4-D7 of LCD to 5-2 of Arduino pins.

For further information, let's see its circuit diagram.

Applications of DS3231

• These are some applications of DS3231.
  • It is used in Servers.
  • It used in Data Loggers
  • It can be used in GPS Modules.
  • It is also used in Power Meters

So, friends that were all about DS3231, if you have any question and query about it please ask in comments. I will resolve your problems. Take care.

How to Engage Your Online Audience

Hello friends, I hope you all are doing great. In today's tutorial, I am going to show you How to Engage Your Online Audience. When selling online, it can be all too easy to focus too heavily on chasing numbers and end up forgetting what really matters. Many business owners and marketers are busy growing lists of fans and followers, but fail to understand the importance of encouraging engagement, which can boost your brand by a whopping 300%.

With over half of online visitors spending less than fifteen seconds on a page, it’s essential that you place less priority on advertising-influenced metrics such as page views and clicks, and focus more on the impact of social media and other online advertising campaigns with reach and activity. When it comes to valuable audience engagement, it’s all about quality over quantity. We’ve put together five key ways to improve engagement with your target audience.

#1. Get to Know Them:

First things first; it’s impossible to truly engage with your audience if you don’t know all that much about them. Just like our favorite sports teams can be determined by where we live or grew up, or our favorite food can be determined by our culture or heritage, our preferred methods of communication are often dependent on our life situation, choices and preferences. For business owners and marketers, knowing target audience preferences allow us to tailor content strategies in a way that will attract the customers we need, increasing the potential for highly successful engagement.

#2. Know What They’re Looking For:

Unless you’re fine with being one of the thousands of suppliers of memes and cat videos, chances are that your target audience is only going to engage with your brand if you’re providing what they are looking for. In most cases, this would mean that you are answering their question, or you have an insight into a topic that they are interested in. It’s important to be aware that today, the internet is a hugely saturated place for most industries. So, it’s crucial to do your due diligence on the current landscape, filling the gaps with insightful, valuable and high-quality content.

#3. Be Interactive:

Encouraging your target audience to engage with your brand can be done in several different ways. One of the best ways to do this is to directly ask your audience to engage by providing them with a selection of options through which they can interact with your brand. Quizzes and polls, for example, are a great way to get your audience to discuss relevant topics on your social media pages, and you can even use them as a method of discovering more about their preferences, likes and dislikes in a fun and interactive way. Business text messaging is a great way to engage with your customers. You can set up your business SMS platform with DialMyCalls to send out polls to your customers regarding your business and view all replies, instantly. Additionally, you may want to look into getting a business SMS gateway API so you can reach thousands of customers at a time. An SMS API is a defined set of instructions that enable applications to send SMS messages via an SMS Gateway. It is used to add native bulk SMS capability to existing software and applications. In other words, it allows you to unlock SMS capability in your existing software platforms. And, it’s not just for social media – there are even quiz plugins for WordPress sites that you can embed directly into your website.

#4. Maintain a Business Blog:

Blogging is one of the best ways to boost the amount of content that you’re providing to your audience and it’ll also help you improve your SEO, with more pages for your site to rank in Google search results. The key to encouraging engagement via a business blog is to provide content that’s going to get your readers talking. Content is king; the deeper and richer content that you can offer your audience, the more likely they will be to return to your site as a trusted information source. And, don’t forget to encourage them to engage with your content by sharing it, or wrapping up with a question so that you’re able to discuss their opinions, suggestions and ideas.

Today, audience engagement is more important than anything else when it comes to successful marketing. Creating a community of customers who trust you online is key to converting visits to sales.

Why Vulnerable Chrome Extensions are a Cybersecurity Threat

Hello friends, I hope you all are doing great. In today's tutorial, we are going to show you Why Vulnerable Chrome Extensions are a Cybersecurity Threat. It is probably no surprise that the majority of Google Chrome users have some kind of add-on or extension installed on their browser. Why? Chrome extensions are convenient and easy to use. However, what most fail to notice are the vulnerabilities that can leave users’ devices exposed to security risks. We’ll dig deeper into the benefits of finding the right VPN Chrome solution to avoid cybersecurity threats. While certain Chrome extensions are safe to use, some of them are designed for malicious purposes such as data theft and unauthorized access. The bad news is, we can never be 100% certain whether or not a specific extension is going to cause us a headache. Luckily, there are effective security measures that can help users determine which Chrome extensions to stay away from. Read on to learn more about VPN Chrome solutions and browser security.

Why Are Browser Extensions Dangerous?

Rogue browser extensions are one of the most common online security concerns. Many extensions abuse APIs and ask for high-level permissions. In other words, some extensions ask for way too many permissions than necessary. The truth is, Chrome users rarely pay attention to the installation process when it comes to extensions. They are often in a rush to get things done, so they end up hitting the “Allow” button without even reading what kind of permission the extension is asking for. That is how many users end up giving extensions permission to read their browser history, although that has nothing to do with what the extension is actually for. Hackers use these seemingly harmless browser extensions to get their hands on users’ data, browsing history, and even credentials. Some extensions go to the extreme and even perform unauthorized downloads. This can cause severe consequences in terms of security.

Consider Using a VPN Chrome Solution

One of the most important cybersecurity measure that will help users deal with security risks is to use a virtual private network or a VPN. A VPN will mask the user’s real IP address and replace it with the address of a server in another location. Every single piece of information that goes through the user’s computer will be encrypted or, in other words, hidden from third parties such as hackers or ISPs. A VPN Chrome solution will disable extensions from tracking the user’s data and tracing it back to their identity. Therefore, it is highly recommended to use a VPN on a regular basis to reduce the risks of data theft and unauthorized downloads. However, users should keep in mind that free VPN solutions won’t be very effective in terms of maintaining strong encryption and security. Make sure to opt for a paid and reliable service for best results.

Tips to Increase Online Security

While a VPN is the most efficient solution to cybersecurity problems, users should not neglect other much simpler safety measures that can make a big difference. For example, being aware of potential security risks tied to Chrome extensions already puts the user one step ahead of the hackers. The best way to ensure that the extensions are not a vulnerability in the user’s system is to install as few of them as possible. Users should also stay away from extensions that originate from unknown or suspicious sources. In other words, users should only trust the official, licensed extensions provided by popular and reputable companies or services. Besides keeping the extensions count low, users must pay more attention to details during the installation process. Any unusual activity during this process is a red flag you should act upon. Most importantly, make sure to carefully check the requested permissions before allowing the extension to do anything. It is highly recommended to stay away from Chrome extensions that ask for unnecessary permissions that are not connected to their purpose. For example, if an extension is asking for permission to read and change users’ data on websites, it is most likely not the safest choice to go for. Besides restraining from installing more extensions, go through the ones that are already installed on your devices and narrow down the list to necessary add-ons only.

Conclusion

Chrome extensions have caused numerous data breaches and security risks in the past few years, and this trend is not about to change. The only thing we can change is the way users respond to these threats. We strongly recommend all Google Chrome users to opt for a VPN Chrome solution to protect their data and device. A VPN combined with the right level of awareness will make for a strong security system against cybercriminals who exploit browser extensions for malicious purposes.

Introduction to DHT11

Hello Friends, I hope you all are fine and will be doing well in your life. In today's tutorial, I am going to give you a detailed Introduction to DHT11. It is an embedded sensor used to measure temperature & humidity in the surroundings and gives calibrated digital output. It can measure temperature in the range of 0°C to 50°C with ±2°C accuracy. Its humidity range is from 20% to 80% with ±5% accuracy. It is a small, low cost and easy-to-interface embedded sensor.

In this tutorial, I will explain its working, pinout, protocol and interfacing with other microcontrollers in detail.

• Here are a few important features of DHT11, given in the below table:

DHT11 Features & Specs
No.	Parameter	Value
1	Measures	Humidity & Temperature
2	Sensors Included	Capacitive Humidity Sensor & Thermistor
3	Humidity Range	20% to 80% with ±5% accuracy
4	Temperature Range	0°C to 50°C with ±2°C accuracy
5	Package	4 Pins in a single row
6	Operating Voltage	3.0V to 5.5V
7	Operating Current	0.3mA(measuring), 60uA(idle)
8	Resolution	1°C, 1%RH (8-Bit)
9	Response Time	6s-15s
10	Repeatability	±1°C, ±1%RH
11	Sampling Frequency	1Hz
12	Dimensions	27mm x 59mm x 13.5mm (1.05" x 2.32" x 0.53")

So, let's start with the Introduction to DHT11:

Where To Buy?
No.	Components	Distributor	Link To Buy
1	DHT11	Amazon	Buy Now

Introduction to DHT11

• DHT11 is a low-cost, small-sized & easy-to-operate embedded sensor, consisting of 4 pins, used to measure Temperature(0°C to 50°C with ±2°C accuracy ) & Relative Humidity (20% to 80% with ±5% accuracy ) and provides calibrated digital output.
• DHT11 Pinout consists of 4 Pins in total, listed below from left to right:
  1. Vcc: Need to provide +5V at this pinout.
  2. Data: It's the digital output pin, that gives either 0V or 5V.
  3. NC: Not Connected. (It's left open for future design)
  4. GND: Need to provide Ground at this pinout.

• DHT11 has a Capacitive Sensor for measuring humidity & NTC Thermistor for temperature sensing. (We will cover them in detail below)
• It comes in a single package comprising of 4 pins with 0.1" spacing between them and a special package can be provided according to user demand.
• DHT11 updates the output value once every 2 seconds.
• Small-size, low-cost, precise & calibrated output and up to 20 meters signal transmission stand it out from other sensors.
• DHT11 uses a single-wire serial interface for data processing.
• It calibrates the humidity using humidity coefficients, which are stored in the OTP program memory of the built-in controller.
• Its operating voltage is 3V to 5.5V, so it works with both 3.3V and 5V microcontroller systems.
• It has a sampling frequency of 1Hz, so it samples the data after every 1sec.
• DHT11 has a dimension of 27mm x 59mm x 13.5mm (1.05" x 2.32" x 0.53"), so it is very small and can easily be placed in autonomous embedded projects.
• It is quite accurate & precise in its readings as compared to other expensive sensors i.e. SHT10, DS18B20 etc.

We have discussed the basic features of our Moisture sensor DHT11. Now, let's have a look at DHT11 Pinout and description:

DHT11 Pinout & Description

• DHT11 Pinout consists of 4 Pins in total, which are shown in the below table:

Pin#	Type	Parameters
Pin#1	Vcc	Provide 3.3V to 5V at this pin.
Pin#2	Data	This pin provides a digital output.
Pin#3	N/C	Not Connected.
Pin#4	Ground	This pin is used for Ground ( Connected to 0V or GND ).

• For better understanding let's check its picture, given below:

Now, we will discuss the DHT11 working principle in detail:

DHT11 Working Principle

• Now, let's understand the working principle of the DHT11 temperature & humidity sensor.
• As we have discussed earlier, it has two sensors inside it, so let's have a look at both of them separately:

DHT11 Temperature Sensing

• For temperature sensing, it has an NTC(Negative Temperature Coefficient) temperature sensor (also called a thermistor ) mounted on the surface inside the plastic casing.
• NTC temperature sensors are variable resistive sensors and their resistance decreases with an increase in the surrounding temperature.
• Thermistors are designed with the sintering of semiconductor materials, such as ceramic or polymers and they provide a large change in resistor with a small temperature change.
• Here's the graph showing the relation between temperature and resistance for the DHT11 sensor:

Now, let's discuss the Humidity Measurement of DHT11:

DHT11 Humidity Measurement

• For Humidity Measurement, it uses a capacitive humidity sensor, which has two electrodes and a substrate material in between.
• The substrate material is used for holding the moisture on its surface.
• As moisture content changes in our environment, they get saturated on the substrate material, which in turn changes the resistance between electrodes.
• This change in electrode resistivity is then calibrated using the humidity coefficient (saved in OTP memory) and the final relative humidity value is released.
• Here's the image showing the internal structure of the DHT11 humidity sensor:

Now let's discuss the communication Protocol of the DHT11 temperature & humidity sensor:

DHT11 Communication Protocol

• DHT11 sensor uses a single-wire, two-way Serial Protocol for communicating with third-party peripherals normally microcontrollers.
• We call it single-wire because the communication is performed through a single pin.
• It's two-way because DHT11 receives commands from the microcontroller and then responds required data.
• Data sent by the DHT11 sensor is 40 bits and it sends Higher Data Bits first.
• Data contains both Integral and decimal values of temperature and relative humidity along with a checksum value.

DHT11 Data Format

• DHT11 sends the 40Bit serial data in the below format:
  1. 8-Bit Humidity(Integral)
  2. 8-Bit Humidity(Decimal)
  3. 8-Bit Temperature(Integral)
  4. 8-Bit Temperature(Decimal)
  5. 8-Bit Checksum
• If DHT11 is sending the correct data, then it must send an 8-bit Checksum data at the end.

DHT11 Communication with Microcontroller

• The circuit diagram to interface DHT11 with the microcontroller is shown in the below figure:

• A pull-up resistance of 5k ohm is recommended to place at the Data Pin of the DHT11 sensor.
• At normal conditions, the data pin of DHT11 remains at the HIGH voltage level and the sensor remains in low power consumption mode.
• To receive data from the DHT11 sensor, the microcontroller should make the Data Pin low for at least 18us, so that the sensor could sense it.
• Once the DHT11 sensor senses the low signal at the Data Pin, it changes its state from low power consumption mode to running mode and waits for the Data Pin to get HIGH.
• As the Data Pin gets HIGH again by the microcontroller, DHT11 sends out the 40-bit calibrated output value serially.
• After sending the data, DHT11 returns to low power consumption mode and waits for the next command from the microcontroller.
• The microcontroller has to wait for 20-40us to get a response from the DHT11 sensor.

Applications of DHT11

Because of its small size, low cost and ability to sense two values, DHT11 has a wide range of applications:

• DHT11 is used in Home Automation Projects to maintain constant atmospheric values by controlling the appliances(i.e. AC, Fan etc.) based on the sensor's readings.
• It is also used at weather stations for temperature & humidity sensing.
• It is also used in automatic climate control appliances.
• Environment monitoring devices also utilize this sensor.
• Garden Monitoring Systems also use DHT11 sensors.

So, that was all about the DHT11 temperature and humidity sensor. I have tried to cover this sensor from all angles. Let me know about your experience with the DHT11 sensor in the comments. Take care!!!